The Lincoln Greeners were savouring the best of both seasons earlier this month. We enjoyed the late summer sun whilst preparing for the months ahead, picking vine leaves & harvesting pumpkins. 🍁 Shoutout to Asnie, who brought her sash along to celebrate being a Miss Global England finalist! 👑

🍁 New this autumn: Art Club 🎨 Free weekly creative mornings in Roxby Community Garden with Mafwa Theatre & Space2. Explore playful, nature-inspired art like cyanotypes, leaf prints & more. Spaces are limited so sign up today! www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/sign-up

✨ Kuluhenna Drama returns 25 Sept! Free, weekly drama group for women & non-binary people from refugee, asylum seeker & settled communities. Thursdays 10:30–12 at Anglers Club, LS9. Sign up 👉 www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/current-proj...

In a time when division is often in the headlines, it’s vital to share projects creating space for dialogue & solidarity.We’re proud to feature in Chapel FM’s Bridges Not Borders, a brilliant series empowering refugees & asylum seekers to share stories. 🎧 Listen: www.chapelfm.co.uk/elfm-player/...

We’re opening our doors at Patrick Studios this Sat for Leeds Open Studios (11–14 Sept)! Step inside artists’ workspaces, meet makers & join activities. Our studio will be open for a nosy + we’ll be manning a stall downstairs, come say hi! eaststreetarts.org.uk/event/open-s...

☀️It’s been a summer full of good weather & good growth & the Lincoln Greeners have been busy soaking it up. We’ve welcomed new faces, shared meals, enjoyed harvests & made the most of the season. Now we’re looking forward to settling into the rhythm of planting, pruning & gathering as autumn beckons

Everyday we are confronted by the relentless brutality and weight of multiple protracted crisises. We can’t ignore our rage, but we won’t be consumed by it. "Hope is a Discipline" is a short #SolidarityKnowsNoBorders film resource for changemakers. Watch with us 🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8AD...

🌱✨What a summer it’s been with Garden Gremlins! Over the past month, several hundred children & parents joined us in Roxby Community Garden, filling the space with colour, laughter & creative chaos.

🌞 Garden Gremlins starts tomorrow! Our free summer art club for families kicks off Thursday 11am–4pm in the Roxby Community Garden. Drop in any time. Stay as long as you like. Everyone’s welcome. 💚

☀️Such a lovely day out on Thursday with some of our Kuluhenna Drama & Lincoln Greeners crew! We took a trip to Temple Newsam and explored the house, learnt about its history and amazing art collection, then wandered over to the farm to see the piglets 🐷 and spring lambs 🐑

Amazing work, having a safe, welcoming place to land can be life changing. Big love to @refugeesathome.bsky.social and everyone opening their doors and making space where it’s needed most.

Our thoughts are with the people seeking safety, including children, who have been targeted with racist harassment, threats and violence outside the buildings in which they have been forced to live.

🌞 Just in time for summer – our brand new enamel pin is here! Inspired by the Roxby Community Garden, it’s a pocket-sized celebration of everything we’ve grown together. Prices start at £2.50 - or get one for free when you spend £10+ 💛 www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/shop/p/mafwa...

🌱Last month, Bei & Danmore took a trip to the beautiful Meanwood Valley Urban Farm to lead a workshop for the Nature Recovery & Connections Conference, part of the @climateactionleeds.bsky.social Festival.

✨ Still feeling the love from Refugee Week 2025 ✨ Family Flourish Day was full of joy, music, dancing & play. Catch up on the week with photos, a brilliant Chapel FM radio piece & ways to support our work: tinyurl.com/3yyw3cjk

🌿🖍️ Garden Gremlins is back! Join our free family art club - a space to build, play & explore together in the Roxby Community Garden. 🎨Each week, we’ll use natural materials to explore colour, shape & imagination. No need to book, just drop in & enjoy some creative time outdoors! 🌞Open to all ages

Playbox is open & day one was a blast! Over 80 kids joined us for bubbles, water play & creative fun in the sun 🫧☀️ Families even brought picnic blankets & stayed to eat dinner by the box! A joyful start to #RefugeeWeek 🧡 Find us by Granville Rd/Ferriby Towers: Wed–Fri 2–5pm | Sat 11–4 | Sun 1–6

Alongside performances & workshops, the garden will be full of activities & stalls to explore this Sunday.. 🌼Get creative with Space2’s natural craft activities 🌿Visit the Lincoln Greeners stall for fresh produce & teabag making 🎓Chat to the Lifelong Learning Centre about learning opps & resources

This year’s Family Flourish Day invites you to move, breathe & connect through 2 dance workshops offering a unique window into culture, tradition & connection💃 🇿🇼 Mambokadzi Dance Workshop: Led by Zimbabwean choreographer Enisia Mashusha, this workshop fuses African rhythms, storytelling & movement.

Getting ready for the first Playbox session in LS9 today! Water play, & creative games incoming 💦☀️ Find us next to Granville Rd/Ferriby Towers 📍The Playbox is open all week: Tues–Fri: 2–5pm, Sat: 11–4pm, Sun: 1–6pm

Join LASSN for a night of films showcasing perspectives on life as a refugee/asylum seeker from around the world. Thursday 19th June 6:00pm Archive, Kirkstall Road, LS3 1HD www.eventbrite.com/e/lassn-refugee-week-short-film-festival-tickets-1381952780969 contact [email protected] for ticket help

“Our people are not voiceless. They’re just waiting to be heard” - listening to Sabah Achide of MEMEC at Leeds International African Arts Festival’s ‘North African Narratives’ this morning

@retasleeds.bsky.social are screening a very special film - ‘Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza’, for our community with an art workshop beforehand to express ourselves. Free to all. Thursday 19th June 6:00 pm St Luke’s Church, Malvern Rd, LS11 8PD More info: [email protected] / 07523911196

Playbox01 has touched down in LS9! Join us & Playful Anywhere for free family fun this Refugee Week 🎉 Playbox is a big shipping container choc-full of creative games, crafts, & space to build, explore & unwind. Whether you’re 2 or 92 - play is for everyone

This #RefugeeWeek, #OurSuperpower is growing together 🧡 We're celebrating the power of community to transform spaces & lives through creativity, care & connection. Our Family Flourish Day is a reflection of what happens when neighbours, artists & families come together to grow something beautiful🌱

🚲 Leeds Bike Mill is back for this years Family Flourish Day! Drop by for free bike checks, minor repairs & advice from their friendly mechanics. You can also learn what’s on offer at your local active travel hub whilst you’re getting your wheels fixed🛠️ #RefugeeWeek #FamilyFlourishDay

🌟Meet some of the brilliant groups joining us at Family Flourish Day! 🌟 🎪 Clowns Without Borders -
Specialists in silliness & joy,Clowns Without Borders support children globally to heal, learn & thrive. They’ll be leading a kids workshop filled with games, movement & playful expression!

🌼 Volunteers needed for Family Flourish Day! Join us on 22 June for our Refugee Week celebration Can you give 3+ hours between 3–9pm? New and returning volunteers welcome! 📍 Sign up: buff.ly/9vWfFrF

🎟️The Participation Research Group at the School of Performance & Cultural Industries are hosting an afternoon of provocations & reflections for artists, organisers & cultural workers navigating creativity, care & resistance. 📍June 26th, Banham Theatre in Leeds www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/lee...

🌱Help us grow our garden! The Lincoln Greeners are looking for a few bits to support our gardening sessions, especially items to help us create bug hotels, a mini pond & expand our veg beds🐞🌾 If you’ve got anything to spare, just drop us a message!

📢 Artist call-out! Yorkshire Contemporary & Hamara Healthy Living Centre are commissioning 2 artists to lead creative play sessions for under 5s Info session: 3rd June Apply by: 16th June Apply here: yorkshirecontemporary.org/jobs-opportu...

Fresh off the press! Our Family Flourish Day flyers have arrived 💃

We don't count people's worth in numbers. It's hard to watch politicians celebrate falling migration just days after they labelled people who've built lives in this country "strangers", so today, and always, we want to be very clear: Newcomers are welcome and they always will be.

With just one week to go before Collective Encounters we’re spotlighting unapologetic Gujarati queer dancemaker Jaivant Patel! Join Jaivant in conversation with our Creative Director Hannah Robertshaw discussing South Asian Queer Lens & Choreographic Practice at 13:30 on Saturday 31 May.

📢 Landing in a Sheffield venue near you! Our brochures are available at the venues for our Sheffield festival this June. If you would like some of these special ten-year festival guides for your Sheffield venue, business or organisation just comment here and we’ll get some out to you ⬇️

Only one month to go until Collective Encounters Festival lands in Leeds! Join us on 30-31 May for a festival of dance celebrating LGBTQ+ folx and their allies. Find out more and book: buff.ly/o13O4Jw

The Lincoln Greeners have been making the most of the glorious weather over the past few weeks - sowing seeds for summer, planting lemon balm and potatoes, picking calendula and rocket flowers, and keeping everything thriving with plenty of watering 🌼🥔

#IDAHoBiTLeeds2025 - The Power of Communities Be sure to visit our Pay As You Feel café to support our event - open 10.30am until 3.30pm with coffee from Flamingos Coffee House Leeds, delicious brownies from Brown & Blond - and hot traditional food from our Cameroonian & Algerian chefs.

🙌Thank you so much to all of you who have already taken action and called on the Home Office ministers to #EndLGBTQIDetention! 🌈Take action and share it with friends and family: buff.ly/PzmPRwX

🌼Save the date: Family Flourish Day is back!🌼 Join us on 22 June, 4–8pm in the Roxby Community Garden for an evening of food, music, activities, stalls, and celebration during Refugee Week. Come dance, eat, play & soak up the atmosphere - everyone is welcome! Full line-up coming soon.

Trans rights are human rights🏳️‍⚧️. The UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling is a painful reminder that trans lives are still being debated. At Mafwa Theatre, we are unequivocally trans-inclusive. Read our full statement: www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/blog/standing-with-trans-communities

We had some extra hands on deck at last week’s Lincoln Greeners, as we were joined by a few younger pals on their Easter break🐣! While the group sowed herbs & sunflowers, the kids got creative making art with leaves & petals from the garden.

New free Indian dance group for asylum-seeking & refugee women in LS9. Led by Minoti Parikh, sessions run fortnightly, 10:30–12:30, starting 2 May. No experience needed! Support with transport, interpreters, exercise clothes & refreshments provided. Call 0113 276 2851 & ask for Emily to join!

🎉The Burmantofts Communities Festival is back on Sat 14 June, 12–4pm at Haslewood Park (LS9 7UZ) and it’s FREE! Expect inflatables, circus shows, crafts, food, donkey rides & activities from Leeds United, Yorkshire Cricket, British Cycling & more. Don’t miss it!

We recently visited the Henry Moore Institute with 60+ parents & children from Kuluhenna Drama & Leeds Refugee Forum’s art club! We explored Roger Ackling’s Sunlight exhibition & got creative on the gallery floor. Huge thanks to @hmileeds.bsky.social for the warm welcome!

We’re headed to Sheffield! Garden Gremlins, our stay & play group for children under 5 is part of this year’s @migmatfest.bsky.social - a city-wide celebration of sanctuary, cultural identity & migration.

🎂3 years ago today, we held the very first Lincoln Greeners session! Since then, we’ve dug, planted & nurtured-not just crops, but relationships, stories & shared knowledge. Turning a neglected shrub bed into a flourishing patchwork of experiences. 🌱Join us today www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/sign-up

Are you a dance artist based in the North? Apply to perform your work-in-progress at No Dress Code Scratch Night on 21 November 2025. What’s included? £135 fee Studio rehearsal space Opportunity to test work in progress Receive feedback from your peers Application deadline: 23 June 2025

Talking about refugee rights with loved ones can be tough - but we've got your back✊ If you're seeing family this bank holiday, get prepared for those conversations you might normally shy away from with our free courageous conversations guide: cityofsanctuary.org/2025/03/25/2...